The present invention specifically relates to a mail-order shopping system utilizing a DVD as a catalog of goods and also to a DVD and an adapter both for use in the mail-order shopping system.
In a conventional mail-order shopping system, a user looks through a catalog distributed from a mail-order firm and chooses desired goods from the catalog. The user orders the goods and provides the firm with information about the desired goods such as the name of the goods (e.g., number, code, etc. assigned to the goods), the size, the color, and the quantity desired. The user also provides user information such as a membership number, a zip code, an address, a name and a telephone number. This information is provided by telephone, facsimile or mail, and then the firm delivers the ordered goods to the address specified. The cost of the goods is paid by automatically drawing money from a user's bank account, by paying money into a mail-order firm's account, or by COD (collect on delivery).
The above conventional mail-order shopping system has the disadvantage that as the goods listed in a catalog increase in number, the catalog bulks up in size and its handling becomes troublesome. Furthermore, because the merchandise in the catalog makes a one-sided impression on the user, the user often purchases goods which are different from those he or she desired.
On the other hand, electronic mail-order shopping systems using personal computers have been put to practical use in light of the pervasiveness of personal computer networks and the Internet. One method, which employs a CD-ROM as a catalog and has been recognized as an electronic publishing medium, is proposed in, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. (KOKAI) Publication No. 5-298336. According to this method, a user chooses desired goods from displayed catalog information of the CD-ROM, and inputs goods information such as a name, a size, a color, and quantity and user's information such as a membership number, a zip code, an address, a name and a telephone number through a keyboard. Both the goods information and user's information are transmitted to the mail-order firm.
However, the conventional electronic mail-order shopping system has a drawback wherein it is based on the premise of using a personal computer and thus cannot be used by anyone who is inexperienced with computers. Moreover, because the user's information contains a variety of items are described above, it is complicated even for computer-savvy users to input the information by a keyboard for every electronic mail order.
In the catalog stored in the CD-ROM, the images of goods or of those goods actually in use, are basically still images because of the limitations in storage capacity. Utilizing the image compression coding technique such as the MPEG1 standard, catalog information of animation can be stored in the CD-ROM, but high-quality images cannot be expected using the MPEG1 standard.
For the above reasons, the tone of goods, the feel of material thereof, the feel of use thereof, etc. cannot be known exactly from the CD-ROM used as a catalog.
As described above, the mail-order shopping systems which use a CD-ROM and which require the use of a personal computer, make it difficult for those inexperienced in computers to employ the system efficiently, while still making it complicated for experienced users to input information. Furthermore, the catalog information is basically displayed by still images and, even though it is done by dynamic images, no high quality can be expected. Thus, goods information such as the tone of goods, the feel of material thereof, the feel of use thereof or the like, cannot correctly be obtained.